The aging population has become a major concern of stakeholders in the field of health and sociology in recent years. Global demographic trends indicate that the number of older people (65 and over) will increase. The population of Moroccan elders is in full increase; their requirements for quality and quantity of services are becoming increasingly important.
The aging cannot be dissociated from the demographic transition since it is undoubtedly its product. According to the High Commission for Planning in its national report on population policy, Morocco is one of the countries where the evolution started later, but where it seems to have to accelerate at a significantly faster pace. A slow evolution in relative terms should not obscure the extent of aging in absolute terms.
By less than one million in 1960, the number of elderly people rose to 2.4 million in 2004. According to the projections of the High Commission for Planning (HCP), they would become 5.8 million in 2030. This demographic shift necessitates a comprehensive approach to address the needs and challenges faced by elderly Moroccan men.
Healthcare and Social Services
The National Strategy for the Elderly (2009) by the Ministry of Social Development, Family and Solidarity marks a date in the evolution of ideas and in the awareness of the various problems posed by the junction of demographic aging and allowed the dissemination of the term old age policy. It has been noted that all residences have multidisciplinary teams.
The assignment of health professionals to ensure the activities of maintaining and improving the autonomy of our seniors is crucial. These professionals include:
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- Occupational therapists
- Physiotherapists
- Psychomotor agents
- Hygienists
- Geriatricians
- Psychologists
- Rheumatologists
- Dieticians
- Animators
- Other external stakeholders deemed useful for the proper functioning of the residence
For specific medical care, conventions can be developed and implemented. These residences are managed by nonprofit associations and do not have an administrative management chart.
Living Conditions and Safety
«Are the logistics and equipment sufficient to meet the specific needs of the elderly? The premises are mostly satisfactory and allow a state of comfort for users. The signs are available in all establishments which facilitates movement. One of these residences has the colors of soils well thought out and well adapted to the different activity spaces.
Some safety devices may be installed in the elderly’s apartments to facilitate their movement and avoid accidents. For example:
- Handles adjacent to baths, showers, lavatories
- Solid ramps to stairs
- Adequate lighting at the top and bottom of the steps
- Anti-slip mats in front of the bathtub and kitchen sink
- Non-slip rubber strips in the shower and bathtub
Good housekeeping also helps to reduce the possibility of accidents.
In addition, the housewives who were in charge of keeping the children and the elderly returned to the world of work now, the children are entrusted to the nursery and preschools while the elders are left to their wise with all the risks − to make their movements in case of urgent or needy need.
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Innovative Projects and Future Opportunities
On the basis of this, reality and extension of many major innovative projects in Morocco (industrial expansion plan, renewable energy stations, the road infrastructure network, rural electrification, drinking water, accelerated urbanization, globalization...) gain importance. Reflection on the design of a typical residence for the elderly has become an ambitious idea possessing all the chances of its success; it is also worth noting that it is a citizen opportunity to be seized by all political decision-makers for the promotion of health and the improvement of the quality of life of a growing category of the population.
In 2008, on the occasion of the World Day of Older Persons, the High Commission for Planning (HCP) presented the results of the national survey on the elderly in Morocco. The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 1 October as the International Day for the Elderly by its Resolution 45/106 of 14 December 1990.
An audit was conducted at some residences for the elderly in the Rabat region. Of all the residences visited, three of them can be considered as typical residences; the others are only guest houses. «Compliance with law 14-05?
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